Raipur, Aug 12 (PTI) Elephants have been an integral part of religious and cultural traditions in India and they also play a role in the protection of forests, Union minister Bhupender Yadav said on Monday as he called for steps to reduce human-pachyderm conflicts in the country.
Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Yadav maintained the Centre was committed to promote natural farming to address the issue of land degradation.
Addressing an event organised on the occasion of World Elephant Day in Raipur, he highlighted the efforts being made by the government for pachyderm conservation through a range of participatory efforts.
The Union minister pointed out that the land desertification (a form of degradation by which fertile land becomes desert) has become a major cause of concern and therefore the Centre has included natural farming in the budget.
The Narendra Modi-led government is committed to promote natural farming, he insisted.
Conserving biodiversity is also a major challenge and all countries should come forward to ensure their active participation in this direction, Yadav added.
“In India, elephants have been a part of religious and cultural traditions. If we save elephants, the forests will prosper as elephants are actual rangers of forests and serve to protect them,” the minister stated.
Yadav stressed on the need to reduce human-elephant conflicts, a problem also prevalent in parts of Chhattisgarh, in the country.
There are 33 elephant reserves and 150 corridors for the pachyderms in the country, he said.
He hailed the Chhattisgarh forest department’s innovative programme to use radio medium to alert people about movement of wild elephants which allows villagers to take preventive steps to avoid loss of life and minimize damage to crops.
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai was also present at the function.
Earlier in the day, Sai and Union minister Yadav inaugurated an e-auction system of the state forest department, officials said.
The e-auction system will bring competition and transparency in the auction of wood in various timber depots of the forest department, they said.
